I. Introduction and Definitions Interaction Suisse Is a Non-Governmental Organization (Art
COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD Reporting Cycle V and VI - Session 84 (2019) - Pre-Sessional Working Group List of issues and questions in relation to the V/VI periodic report of Switzerland I. Introduction and Definitions InterAction Suisse is a non-governmental organization (art. 60 ss. Swiss Civil Code, RS 210) and is therefore part of the civil society of Switzerland; InterAction Suisse is not granted by any financial assistance from the state institutions.1 We understand Intersex Genital Mutilation (IGM) as all forms (as it is the case for FGM too) of altering “sex characteristics”, such as surgical interventions encompassing genital surgeries, gonadectomies, partial clitoris amputations, plastic surgeries on vulva, vagina, clitoris, and perineum, plastic surgeries of the scrotum, testicles, and penis, including ‘corrections’ of hypospadias (relocation of the urethral opening on the top of the penis), but also also other irreversible interventions as, sterilizing procedures, hormonal respectively medical treatment, “blind” prenatal “therapy” and selective abortion, without personal, free and fully informed consent of the person with a variation in their sex characteristics. We are calling to recognize a zero tolerance towards IGM, as it is the case for FGM2. “Both groups of children are denied basic human rights particularly including freedom from violence, freedom from gender and sex-based discrimination, the right to bodily integrity and the right to the highest attainable standard of health.”3 The same author continues, saying (p. 403, italic by InterAction Suisse): “For intersex children, too, the removal of or damage to healthy, normal genital tissue interferes with the natural functioning of the body and causes several immediate and long-term health consequences.
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